Bridge 7a On The Rochdale Canal - Mytholmroyd, UK - Stone Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Canal History
The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.

The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days two of them have been combined into one deep lock in front of this tunnel.

Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.

In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages.

Details of the bridge
This is bridge number 7a on The Rochdale Canal and was built in 1798 by Jessop and Crossley engineers. This is at the time that the part of the canal between Sowerby Bridge and Rochdal was opened, earlier than some other parts of the canal.

It is an accommodation bridge to allow the residents of a nearby farm get across the canal to their fields.

The bridge crosses the canal right next to lock number 5. The locks are always the narrowest part of the canal and by incorporating the bridge into the lock brickwork it is possible to make it smaller and cheaper than at other places on the canal.

However in this case the bridge also has a second arch to cross a small weir which acts as a run of for the lock when the level of water in the canal is high.

Physical Location (city, county, etc.): Mythmlroyd, Yorkshire Road, Highway, Street, etc.: Farm access track Water or other terrain spanned: The Rochdale Canal Architect/Builder: W. Jessop and W. Crossley engineers Construction Date: 1/1/1798

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/01/2012 hulletteers visited it